Facebook has my number

 The Facebook algorithm has definitely got my number in terms of marketing me things - I am probably on their 'Weak of Will' list with an asterisk next to my name for 'especially easy to sell to'.  So many tempting ads for fabric, comfy clothes and shoes, needlework things and so on and so on.  Last week my pretty new kimono jacket turned up, I have a pair of granny sandals in transit as we speak, and this pincushion arrived yesterday.  I'm so ashamed....

We've just been out in the garden having a preparatory play with our new awning poles.  Yes, we finally managed to buy the awning which is custom made to fit the odd curved shape of our caravan, and are looking forward to having some extra room on our next holiday.  It's a good thing we did the advance peek, as it turned out that there was a fist-sized bag of bits that needed to be assembled into clamps that fit on several poles, and one pole was a bit compressed and had to be eased back out with a hammer. I'm glad we didn't have to cope with all of that after a long tow to site.

Also in the garden this morning, I planted up the little cast sink that we bought on our last holiday. We were just driving along a country road on the way to the Lincolnshire seaside when I spotted a sign outside a big house for garden ornaments.  It turned out to be a real cottage business with a pretty big inventory, and I picked up this plain little sink for only £12 which I thought was pretty good compared to what they cost in garden centres.  This morning we went over to the garden centre and bought some alpines for it.  I've probably crammed in too many but they look so nice together.  I'll probably have to take some out next year if they all survive and keep growing.

 Our little strawberry patch has produced two good-sized bowls of strawberries, even beyond all the berries attacked by birds, slugs and woodlice who got in there first.  So we've had a few bowls of summer goodness - strawberries and cream, yum yum.

The cherries are ripening on our edible cherry tree.  The tree has grown too big to be covered easily in netting now, so we may have to fight the birds for the cherries.  The rhubarb has produced intermittently after the slog of dividing it in early spring, hopefully next year we will have a good crop.  The pear tree has quite a few pears growing on it.  I kind of miss the apple tree that we lost in the flood, but on the other hand that corner of the garden is getting a lot more sunlight now.

"Where are the crafts??", I can hear you asking.  I've been wishing I had a bigger sewing room because my limited workspace has been tied up with sewing a new facemask for DH, altering a fitted sheet to fit the caravan bed, altering a blouse and sewing a dress.  What I would like to be working on is Months 1 and 2 of the Australian BOM, both of which have now arrived including the bag of embroidery threads.  DS is talking about possibly moving down to London to be closer to his work once his office fully re-opens.  I know it is more than time for him to leave the nest and he will get his second jab soon, but I wonder what he is going to be able to afford down there.  But anyhow, that will leave his room vacant.  We are definitely going to redecorate it so it can be a better guest room, but as we rarely have guests, I have my eye on it as a supplementary sewing space.  Unfortunately, DH was thinking the same for his modelling.  We may have to fight it out...

Meanwhile I've been carrying on with the usual long-term projects:  cross-stitch on the birthday card, a few rows on the fair-isle socks, the next block of hand-quilting on the applique quilt, and some more work on the big Bucks Lace butterfly mat.  I will be a football game refugee tonight while DH watches England play, so I'll probably head down to the sewing room for some more work on the dress.

I counted up and made myself a special calendar: I have 53 working days left until the end of October, allowing for holidays.  It seems both a long time, since work has been especially tedious lately, and also a short time as I am feeling a bit bombarded by pension information now that the providers of several little pensions from short-term jobs are all writing to me to see what I want to do with my various pots.  I have no idea what I want to do with my various pots, I have math anxiety and very little financial acumen.  At the moment the files are  all in a big pile on my desk waiting for a day when I am feeling especially brave, or at least not procrastinating with craft projects or online stuff like usual. Decisions, decisions...